The Beast Within
by Halftrak
Summary: A new face wants to join up with the crew for a while. The others start to see chemistry between him and Aisha. Will they accept? If they do, will his past help them achieve their dreams or will it end up killing them all? REVIEW MINE AND I REVIEW YERS!
1. A New Face

Hey all! This is my first fan-fic and I got big plans for this one so keep an eye on it

On the flipside, from what I've seen, I gotta say: I don't own Outlaw star or any of it's characters... and I don't own any of the music I suggest and I name and give credit to the bands who's music I name. Ok, with that said, let's roll.

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It was the average kinda morning of the average kind of day at the S&H shop. Melfina was making breakfast... average. Gene was still asleep... average. Aisha was making a lot of noise about something... average. Suzuka was doing God knows what... average. And Jim was checking the Computer for any new jobs that may have popped up... also very average. Things remained average for approximately 10 more minutes, when Jim finally perked up. Everyone was in the kitchen by now.

"Well guys", Jim said, sounding slightly disappointed, "There's no real work for today"

"What?" Gene yelled in Jim's face, "We ain't done anything in the past two weeks! How we supposed to keep eating around here?"

Jim raised his hand defensively, "Hold on, let me finish. I said no REAL work. I got a message from one of our best employers, and it sounds as though he'd like us to meet someone."

Aisha with a mouth full of food said "Who?"

"It didn't really say. But what He did say is that it would be worth our while"

"Well", Gene said, "The way business is goin, I think we can spare the time... Set us up for an appointment this afternoon Jim, and we'll see what's up"

A few hours later a knock came at the door. Melfina opened it and greeted a familiar face. It was Old man Kojak, who had quite a reputation in town for parting with large sums of money to get things done. He had hired the crew to do a few jobs for him a while back and became well acquainted with them.

"Hello Mister Kojack, It's good to see you again", Melfina said with a glowing smile.

"Good afternoon Melfina, how are you doing today?" Kojack replied

"Oh fine, and you?"

"Good good, I assume everyone is here?" he asked while taking off his hat and modest coat.

"Yes, I'll go and find them. You can wait in the front room if you like" she offered

She led him to the messy area that served as the living room, and disappeared in search of everyone.

Within a few minutes, they were all gathered in the living room anxious to find out what was going on.

"So", Gene started impatiently, "What's up Mister Kojack?"

"Well, Gene, I've a friend who I'd like you to meet, he should be here any minute now"

Just then another knock came at the door and Melfina went to retrieve the new visitor. She came back and behind her came a guy that was about as tall as Gene and slightly more muscular. He had short spiked brown hair and blue eyes that seemed at a glance intimidating but openly warm. He had a lean face with the beginnings of a goatee on his chin.

The stranger looked at each of the crew members, each of which he had heard a great deal about from Kojack. There was Jim, Gene, Suzuka, Melfina, and as his eyes came to rest upon Aisha, he felt instantly attracted to her. Why, he couldn't really say, but after a minute she noticed him staring and he snapped out of it. She realized that she was blushing a little.

"Ahem", the visitor took a look at Gene and said, "You must be the great Gene Starwind I've heard so much about"

"That'd be me, but you have the advantage of me. You are?"

"The name's Nick" Everyone looked at him expecting more but he said, "Just Nick, I... I don't know my last name...I don't have any family except for Mr. Kojack. He's been very kind to me."

Kojack broke the silence, "Yes... Well Gene, I want to tell you why I came"

"Ok", Gene Replied

"Well, I was wondering if you'd take Nick here as a kind of... uhh... apprentice if you will."

"You want ME to be a teacher?" Gene said with a little more sarcasm than necessary

"Ha! Gene couldn't teach someone to tie shoes let alone anything important", Jim was quick to add

"Now now", Kojack scolded, "Gene, I don't want him to learn from JUST you but from the whole crew"

"But why us?" Melfina asked

"Because, my dear, take a long hard look around you" Kojack commanded

They all did and said, "What?" in unison

"Because", He responded, "Each of you has a very special skill, for example, Jim, you are one of the best technologists I know of, and Suzuka, your swordplay is unmatched, and Aisha, who better to train with then a real Ctarl Ctarl officer?"

Aisha straightened up at the compliment, "Well you do have a point"

"I'm willing to pay 250,000 wong for you to train him for a month"

Gene's eyes grew to twice their size "DEAL!"

Kojack couldn't help but to laugh, "Great! But aren't you curious as to why I ask you to do this?"

"I guess so", Gene said

"Because, in Nick, I see potential. You must remember that I was once an outlaw such as yourself, and all outlaws have the innate ability to judge the abilities of another, cant you see it when you look at him?"

Gene looked closer at Nick, who was beginning to get slightly nervous at all the attention. He wasn't always to open to strangers. "But who is, right?" he thought.

Gene looked him over and noticed a strange aura about him, something just the tiniest bit strange, almost imposing. Maybe it was the way he stood. He always seemed in a strange fighting stance, and form what he could tell, it was unconscious. Something like that took years of training and discipline. Or maybe it was his ice blue eyes. Gene finally reported," Yeah, now that you mention it, he does look as though he could handle himself in a fight"

"Well now that that's settled, "Kojack said, "I ought to be heading home, it's getting late". He got up and showed himself to the door. He grabbed his old leather coat and hat and bid farewell then disappeared into the darkness.

As the door closed all eyes turned to Nick.

"Well, welcome to the crew, our house is your house" Jim said

Nick sighed, "I'm glad you decided to take me in, I thought you wouldn't"

"Turn down 250,000 wong? Are you nuts?" Gene exclaimed just as he got smacked upside the head by Aisha and Suzuka. "I mean, why would we do that?"

"You can take the room next to mine! It'll be like a sleep over! Come on!" Aisha grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up the stairs... literally.

"Good Riddance!" Gene sighed, "Surviving Aisha ought to teach him everything he'll need to know to survive in the worst possible places"

After being shown his room, Nick lay in his cot worrying about what might happen if he couldn't control the condition. But he soon disregarded the thought after reassuring himself that he had little chance of getting angry. He knew that few things got his temper up, so he never found it a problem keeping himself stable.


	2. The Guardian

Life changed little in the next few weeks, and Nick began to fit in with the groove of things, and even started to loosen up. With the money from Kojack, they could afford to be little lax trying to find work. Gene had started teaching Nick hand to hand combat skills. Suzuka began to teach him sword skills. Aisha became his personal trainer for weight lifting. Jim sat with him for hours teaching him to pilot various ships on simulators. And Melfina taught him to cook, which didn't always go over well.

One morning he tried to make breakfast for all of them. As they all started eating, it seemed that all was going well until Aisha noticed she was the only one still at the table. The five other chairs in mid fall as there was a mad dash to the nearest bathroom.

"What? Can't handle good food? You humans are pathetic!"

Everyone returned feeling little better

"What are you tryin to do, poison us?" Gene scolded

"It looked pretty good, besides, I'd like to see how you'd do cooking-wise. If YOU did it, we probably would have just up and died", Nick shot back jokingly. By now he and Gene had become pretty good friends and were often either horsing around or at the bar... or usually a combination of the two.

"Well Aisha seems to like it" Gene said hoisting a thumb in her direction. She didn't even regard them and just continued to eat.

Nick cleaned up and got ready for today's lessons. He and Gene went down into town to the small rundown gym at the edge of town wearing boxing shorts. Gene's training pretty much consisted of a routine on the punching bag and occasionally sparring. Today he planned on doing more of the sparring.

They arrived at the small converted warehouse and checked in with the owner. Inside, the main workout room was deserted.

"All the better for us", Gene said

They went over to the only boxing ring in the place, put on the gloves, and hopped in.

"I gotta warn you, I been doing this kinda stuff since I was a kid, and I ain't goin easy on ya, OK?" Gene said

"Sounds fair, but just in case you get too incoherent, I'll let you know when I've won", Nick laughed and with that they squared off. They did the usual circling and small jabs then moved in for heavier hits. Nick let loose and punched Gene in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. Gene repaid the favor by quickly giving a quick jab to his face, catching him right on the nose.

Nick fell back for a second, his anger suddenly flared. Nick's mind raced, "No it shouldn't happen this easily!"

Gene couldn't tell if he was sure but he thought he saw something in Nick change, he noticed what appeared to be fur starting to jut out of his shoulder and his eyes turned a malevolent rust-orange, but it quickly receded as Nick got control over himself.

"What the Hell was that?" Gene asked slightly on edge, wondering if he'd really seen what just occurred.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, don't act like you don't know, fess up!"

Nick looked doubtful, wondering if he should really let him know. He finally gave in and told Gene, "I have a condition. It can be looked upon as a curse or a very powerful tool if used correctly."

He and Gene got out of the ring and sat on one of the benches near the wall

"Ok, I want all of it", Gene demanded

"Ok... You remember I said I had no family right?"

"Yeah"

"Well... when I was found, it was on a barren planet on the outer rim. There was an archaeological team that had been doing some research on some ancient ruins there. They had recently gained access to a massive temple created by a vanished race. Inside they came to a huge vault. All about it were glyphs, pictures, and murals depicting some sort of guardian. They must of figured it was a joke and went to go farther. But, it was no joke. They opened the vault to find a stasis pod and a passage. As the vault opened, there were a series of noises, ancient machines and gears awakening. They all came around the stasis pod to examine the contents. What they saw, they couldn't believe."

"So where do you come in?", Gene interrupted

"I'm gettin there. So anyways, what they saw look very human, but the pod was unlike anything they had ever seen, its technology seemed far superior to what the stone temple consisted of. Along the top panel it said that this was, in fact, the guardian, though it didn't look very imposing. They began to notice tubes running into the neck and chest of the guardian. The tubes suddenly jumped and came to life, and a constant flow of black liquid was injected into the creature. The scientists were starting to back away when they noticed that the vault door had silently closed behind them. All they could do was watch as the creature roused. Its eyes opened and considered the team of scientists with little care, but then a new liquid began being injected into its veins. A radiant red sap coursed through the tubes. The sap started taking effect and threw the creature into an unparalleled rage. Its body contorted and fought against the restraints within the pod. With increasing intensity it struggled until its body changed. Its muscles grew and it got larger than the pod could contain until it burst open. There was nothing human about the beast that towered above them, it now had a snout lined with massive teeth and a light covering of dark metallic colored hair in spots, its eyes glazed over with a crimson red hatred. The scientists never had a chance..."

"So how do you now all this?"

"I am the Guardian..." He calmly replied

Gene scoffed, "Yeah right, nice story"

"Hey! It's true! You just saw what happened!", he retorted, holding Gene's nervous gaze, "Now I've been learning to control it, but sometimes I can't help it."

Gene really didn't know what to say other than, "How'd you get here?"

"While in the "hatred" form I easily broke the vault open and got out. I then wandered until I found the scientists ship, but by then the sap had run its course and I had reverted to my normal self. I somehow activated the computer and had it take me back to civilization. I arrived in this city, ignorant of any of your culture, even your language was unknown to me. Fortunately fate led me to Kojack, who was as you can imagine, intrigued by my attire, which by the way is symbiotic with me so it can shed off during the transformation and find me when I return to normal. He then developed a "hobby" of trying to figure me out I guess. He then named me Nick after his son that had passed away, and it just stuck."

"Too weird", was all Gene managed to say

"Yeah it must be. The only thing is that I can't remember what happened before I entered the stasis pod"

"Well, buddy, I think we should head back and tell the others"

"Alright, do you think they will... still want me around?"

"Hey", Gene laughed, "If they can handle me, they won't even be phased by you"

After Nick's confession they headed back to the shop. The walk home was quiet. Nick was still nervous about the others' reaction regardless of what Gene said. They walked in the door and Gene told Melfina to get the crew for a talk.

They showed up one by one, and when all were gathered, Nick retold the story he told Gene. At his confession of being the Guardian, the others seemed slightly unbelieving. Then Gene told of the slight transformation in the ring. They still didn't really understand what was going on.

"Look" Nick said focusing on his hand. He swung it downwards just as his fingers changed. Each grew to about a foot and sprouted sickle like claws from the tips. His arm twitched and it reverted back in the blink of an eye.

"WOW!" Jim bellowed

Suzuka walked closer to Nick and examined him," I have heard old legends of such a race, one that could prove for more than a match for even the strongest Ctarl veteran when transformed, but they were thought to be only a child's tale. Most interesting."

Aisha strode up to Nick and poked him with her finger with a teasing smile, "So you think you could handle me?"

He didn't know what she meant by that but only said, "I... I... uhhh"

"Aisha lay off", Gene said rolling his eyes, "and for everyone else, this changes nothing. As long as you don't get him P.O.ed nuthin will happen, right Nick?

"Right"

The next morning Jim had come into the kitchen with good news.

"We got a job!"

"Finally! I started to think the world was dead." Gene said

"It also seems that it's fairly local, so I think Nick can go along, otherwise I don't think we would have had room in the ship" Jim said with a hopeful tone

"Whadaya think Nick? You up to it?" Gene rebounded

"Sure, so what's the job?"

Jim looked over the sheet he'd just printed, "Well it's from the local authorities. They want us to take up a bounty with some chump who's been selling illegal goods. And it seems like they want us to do it because they don't want to bring em in and let them have a chance in court."

"What's the pay?" Gene was eager to ask

"It says they don't want to complicate things by paying us, since this is obviously under the table, but they say we can keep what we find in the hideout, which is suspected to be worth a lot."

"Hmm, well it don't sound too hard, and we might get a good haul, let's do it!"


	3. RELEASE THE BEAST!

They headed out at dusk in Jim's car trying to be as discrete as possible with so many people packed into the small vehicle.

They arrived at the location listed on the printout which was in the industrial section of the city and spotted the building a block away. It seemed new but someone definitely tried to make it blend in with the surrounding warehouses.

"Melfina and Jim, you two watch the car, Suzuka you watch them", Gene commanded. Suzuka seemed mildly annoyed but obeyed without comment, "Sorry you have to sit this one out Suzuka, but I'd like to see what Nick can do and I need someone to watch these two"

"Don't apologize, I understand." Was all she said

"Geeze Gene, you treat us like kids! I think we can handle ourselves", Jim said getting all flustered

"Maybe he treats you like a kid because you ARE one", Nick retorted in Gene's defense

Jim stuck his tongue out and the others laughed. They mood seemed strangely high spirited for them to be doing a job that involved murder. But the three turned and headed toward the warehouse.

"If this smuggler has anything of real value we should expect to see a lot of thugs, so be on guard." Gene warned

Soon they were only a few yards from the building. The three others watched from the safety of the car back in the shadows.

"Well this place has hideout written all over it", Nick scoffed

"No joke there", Aisha said walking up to the door. She casually kicked it down as if it belonged to her and walked in.

Gene and Nick filtered in quickly behind and took a moment to let their eyes adjust to the dim light. Gene had the caster gun ready. They were in a large entrance room that had two double steel reinforced doors that must have been at least half a foot thick. Aisha tried that same entrance technique she used on the first door only to make a dull thud sound.

"Yep, that thing ain't goin nowhere", She said jumping around rubbing her foot

"Wait", Nick said from behind them, "Make me mad"

"ARE YOU NUTS?" Gene yelled, "You'll rip us to shreds!"

"Not that mad, just enough to give me a boost... Punch me!"

"I can't do that!"

"Ok fine" He turned to Aisha,"You know Aisha, the Ctarl Ctarl have to be one of THE DUMBEST races I know of! As a matter of fact they can't really even fight either..."

Aisha turned bright red and Gene had to wonder if Nick knew what he was getting himself into.

"YOU!.. YOU!... RRRAAAARGGG!" Aisha nailed him square in the face and he doubled over.

The change took seconds. In no time, a hulking figure rose from the floor. Aisha forgot her rage and backed against the wall as did Gene. The beast was truly terrifying in every detail. It approached the door and lifted a monstrous fist and pulled it back and with an almost graceful but effortless swing sent the doors flying far into the open warehouse beyond. Gene only heard the clang of the doors landing as he saw the creature follow the path that the doors took. In seconds some sort of alarm went off and he could hear shouts of many men emanating from the other room. He didn't dare look through the door for fear of looking directly into the beast's eyes.

Aisha sat likewise on the opposite side of the room listening to the sound of chaos being released. The sound of metal being torn hurt her ears. Then there came another sound, it was a thousand times worse. It sounded like a howl from the depths of Hell. Its shrill ending tore at the heart and rattled the spine. She heard one of the thugs yell, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THIN...? His voice cut off suddenly as he yelled and came flying through the doorway of the entrance room and out the front door with the force of a cannon ball. She could feel the walls shake and nearly buckle. Series of gun shots went off at an alarming rate but one by one cut out as if the shooter either gave up or was "dealt" with. After a few minutes of the tempest in the warehouse, nearly all of the noise stopped. All that was left was a shuffling noise that came closer. Thoughts raced through Aisha's mind, "Did they kill him, I shouldn't have hit him and maybe he'd still be ok or is it the beast still looking for victims?"

She sucked up her fear and stood up, and got ready to pounce on the source of the noise. It was almost there. Closer. Closer. It's here! She lunged only to tackle the normal Nick.

"No Aisha! I'm sorry I said those things! Really!" He pleaded.

"Geeze Nick! You could have gotten yourself killed, what were you..." And as she got off she noticed he was bleeding rather badly

"Gene, we gotta get him outta here now!"

Gene came over and examined him

"No I'm fine" He resisted, as Gene tried to dress the wounds, but Nick shoved him back lightly, "No really, look", He pointed to a bullet wound and to both Gene and Aisha's surprise, it was nearly healed over.

"Wow kid! Yer really full of surprises, you know that?" Gene said, genuinely amazed

Nick chuckled and turned toward Aisha again, "Really Aisha, I didn't mean what I said. I just needed you to...", but Aisha cut him off.

"Forget it, no harm done... well not to us" That prompted him to look into the next room.

"Aisha" She said

"Yeah?"

"Get the others"

She did what she was told and soon returned with the other three who were worried about what was going on inside.

"It sounded like some kind of war zone in here" Jim said wide-eyed, "There were gunshots, that guy flew through the front door, and then there was that roar! The whole building was shaking!"

"Check it out for yourself", Gene pointed through the doorway where the steel doors once stood.

Aisha followed Suzuka, Jim, and Melfina and for the first time saw the interior of the warehouse. All four emitted a gasp at the same time. The lights flickered on and off throwing shadows off the debris that lay everywhere. There were at least two dozen bodies strewn about, each was well armed with high caliber weapons. Shell casings from the guns littered the floor. Live electrical wires hung haphazardly from the ceiling spraying sparks across the concrete floor. In one corner of the room, there were two jeeps parked in front of a rear garage door. One of which had been torn in two and it's other half laid on the opposite side of the room. The second had merely been crushed. There were a few pieces of machinery that had been battered into thousands of pieces. Fresh holes had also been punched into the sheet metal ceiling that was at least two stories high. The four stared at the wreckage for a minute before Suzuka finally asked.

"What on earth did you do?"

Gene put up his hands defensively, "uh-uh, not me, look at him", he pointed to Nick who lay propped against a wall. Aisha was busy trying to clean him up.

Nick gave a weak smile, "I'm gonna sleep good tonight" and with that he passed out.


	4. Payday!

He woke up the next afternoon feeling 100 percent better but infinitely more hungry. He looked around but saw no one in his make-shift bedroom, so he decided to go into the kitchen and get food. As he passed Aisha's room, he looked in and saw her asleep. He walked in, temporarily distracted from food, and sat on the edge of her bed. He brushed her pale hair out of her face and gently shook her awake. Her eyes slowly came open and she recognized him and smiled. He got a warm happy feeling and said simply, "I'm hungry!"

"YOU JERK!" She yelled and pushed him of the bed

"What I do?" he asked looking at her from the side of the bed, his eyes level with it peering up

"I stay up all night worrying about you and watching you sleep, and what do you do? You come waltzing in here and say yer hungry!" Aisha screamed with a false anger that hid amusement. But she followed through with it and shoved him into the hall and slammed the door behind him.

Nick stumbled around until he found the stairs and made his way down into the kitchen to find Jim on a laptop.

"Hey Jim"

"Hey yer finally awake!" he said closing the laptop

"Yeah but I wont be for long if I don't find food soon"

"Hmmm, you must have an increased metabolism when you shape shift, just like Aisha, but don't worry, I'll make something" Jim got up and started rummaging through the fridge.

"Where's Gene?"

"Oh, he went with Melfina and Suzuka to cash in on some of the loot in the warehouse. I forgot to tell you that we had a good haul"

"Really? What'cha find?"

"Well" Jim recalled, "There was another room in the back of the warehouse that somehow managed to survive your little... party..."

Nick gave a smirk

"But in it we found a shipment of caster shells, and 25,000 wongs worth of various stolen goods."

"Nice", Nick agreed

"That's not all. We happened to come across some sort of office and we found files of contacts and we offered them to the police and they gave us an additional 3000 wong for information on illegal activities"

"Very nice", Nick approved

"There's one thing the bothers me", Jim admitted

"Yeah?"

"Well, looking over the contacts, we saw that one of their biggest and best suppliers was the McDougal brothers."

"I've heard of them"

"Well you'll hear a lot more about them if they find out that we just knocked off one of their big clients"

"Well if they come around, we'll just knock em around a little bit", Nick said with satisfaction

"I don't think you understand. The McDougall brothers aren't normal thugs. They actually plan for encounters and find weaknesses."

"Yeah yer probably right as usual", Nick agreed

Jim started cooking, and Nick sat down and waited patiently. He heard the front door open and close.

"Gene must be back", Nick said

His thoughts were confirmed when he strode into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Hey buddy, how ya feelin'?"

"Pretty good, mostly just hungry"

"Well eat up, you deserve it! You just handled your first job, single-handedly if I might add. That's a big deal for a new outlaw."

And so Nick ate... and ate... and ate until Gene started to worry that he might eat all the profits from the last job, but Nick gave up and yawned.

"Man that really wore me out!" He admitted and said goodnight and strode up the stairs.

Again he stopped at Aisha's room and knocked on the door. She opened up and said "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to... thank you for looking out for me", He said carefully

She surprised him by suddenly hugging him, but he returned the hug.

"No problem, what are friends for?" she purred

"You know what?" He asked

"What?"

"I feel a little less tired now, how bout we go for a walk?"

"Sure!" She said, eyes wide

So they left without any one noticing... or caring.

Outside, Nick started in the direction of the launching fields. Aisha slightly confused ran to catch up.

"Where are we going?"

"My secret spot, well it's not really all that secret but it's quiet."

And he continued to where the vast paved field began and hopped on one of the runway maintenance carts.

"What are you doing? That's called stealing, didn't you learn about that yet?" Aisha yelled

"Shh!", He scolded her and her ears went down and here eyes opened wide, "Besides, I'm just BORROWING it. Hop on."

She nervously got on and he drove off into the coming night. Every few seconds they would pass a ship and its massive dock, each covered in floodlights that were constantly on. They passed a familiar looking ship that took Aisha a minute to recognize in the dark. It was hers, or actually Gene's, the Outlaw Star, but it was soon swallowed in darkness. After a few minutes of speeding along, they came to the opposite end of the field where Nick stopped and got out. Aisha peered beyond and from what she could see, it was a massive gently rolling plain that stretched as far as the darkness would allow you to see.

"I never knew this was out here" She said with wonder

"Well now you do, and my secret spot is now our secret spot" He said as he walked into the short grass and laid down. Aisha followed and laid next to him and he put his arm around her and together they looked at the sky which was illuminated by thousands of stars and a full moon...


	5. Old Memories are Found

After nodding off few a while, Nick awoke in the brisk night air. He noticed that his symbiotic clothes had covered Aisha too, and were keeping her warm. He looked to the horizon and saw the slightest touch of pink across the skyline. He picked Aisha up gently and carried her to the maintenance vehicle and set her in. He carefully climbed in the dark and started off.

By the time they reached the other side of the field, the sky had become well illuminated and Nick had to be cautious that he wasn't seen by any workers or guards. But it was still pretty early and he made it there without incident. He parked the cart where he had found it but noticed it was now low on gas so he put a couple wong on the dash and got out and retrieved Aisha. Fortunately for him, the shop was only a few blocks away, so he started walking with Aisha in his arms.

He was nearing the front door when Aisha stirred and he let her stand on her own.

"Hey fuzzball, you get enough sleep?", Nick taunted playfully. He had just recently started calling her that...

"Pfff, not nearly... A delicate flower like me needs AT LEAST 8 hours", she informed him

"Well, I'll be sure to remember that your highness"

Just before they entered, Aisha faced him, "I had a good time last night and I hope we can do it again", she jumped up and gave him a quick kiss and went inside.

He stood there a moment longer and suddenly burst out in a victory dance. He had to admit that things between he and Aisha had been going well, even since the day he first set eyes on her. But even he didn't think he would have gotten this far. Her playful personality complimented his in a way that no one else's had before, and it made him feel whole.

He took a look at the sky and saw that there wasn't a cloud to be seen, and it made him feel even better. He walked into the shop and into the living room and fell back onto the broken-in couch. His eyes looked over to the swimsuit issue calendar of Gene's and noticed that his month was nearly over. His heart sank. Where had the time gone? He had reveled in the time he spent with each of his new friends and never thought about the future. He got up and headed towards the small mechanics garage that was on the side of the shop. Jim must be in there he thought, he usually was at this time of day.

He entered to see Jim's car parked inside and a small pair of legs poking out from under it. Jim likewise noticed a familiar pair of boots stroll into the garage and he rolled out from under the car.

"What's up?" Jim said, obviously glad to have company

He responded with a sigh, "Oh nothin, I just now realized that my month of training is nearly up."

"Really? Time really does fly fast."

"I'd really like to go on at least one more job before I go... I've been thinking...", he said

"Yeah?"

"What if..." He hesitated for a second but then continued,"...what if we went to the temple I came from and see if there's anything of value in it?"

"Loot it? It's from your own people!", He said unbelievingly

"Yeah but they're long gone, and besides, I'm the last so wouldn't that make it some type of inheritance?", He said defending his plan

"True, point taken. But do you remember where the temple is, or the planet for that matter?"

"No, but if we found the ship that I came here in, would there be a chance that it's log would still have the locations in it's records?"

"Yeah sure... wait a second? What makes you think that there's anything of value in the temple?"

"Well, if there was something like me guarding it, then there must be SOMETHING of value in there, besides, when we get there, there shouldn't be anything to worry about now that I'm not in the pod anymore. I also forgot to mention that there is a small city around the temple. We may also find something there"

"This sounds almost foolproof, let's go talk to Gene about it..."

They walked out of the garage and into the house. They searched upstairs and down but couldn't find him. Jim came across Melfina, and asked her. She said she saw Gene leave around 2' O'clock. Nick and Jim looked at each other with knowing looks and said, "The bar..."

They walked outside and down the street. They reached the corner that the bar was on after crossing a few blocks and went in. Right away, they saw Gene up at the bar with glass in hand. He had a strange habit of drinking just after noon, but then again, it's better than getting drunk at night then stumbling off in what you THINK is the right direction.

"Hey Gene", Jim said pulling up a stool.

Gene turned slightly surprised, "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Nicks got a plan for the next job, and it sounds promising", Jim said excitedly

Gene ordered a drink for Nick and something non-alcoholic for Jim, "Let's hear it then"

Nick took his time laying out the details of his plan to return to his home planet, all the while, Gene sat rubbing his chin.

"Well, it sounds pretty solid except for the fact that we'd have to find that ship. For all we know, it could have been scrapped, but we'll look into it. Do you remember anything special about the ship? Decals? Special equipment?" Gene asked while setting his empty glass down. The bar tender instinctively filled it back up

"All I remember is that it was specifically outfitted for science research and space exploration, but other than that I can't remember anything else", he confessed

"Actually that may be all we need to know", said Jim

The other two looked at him awaiting explanation.

"If an entire exploration team went missing, there might have been something in the media. I could try and dig up something on it when we get back. If I find anything, it may give us a clue as to who funded the expedition or owned the ship."

"Good thinking Jim!" Nick said with renewed hope

They finished their drinks and headed back to the shop.

As soon as they returned, Jim hopped onto his computer and pounded some keys and within minutes had an article on the missing expedition.

Nick and Gene stood behind him and listened to him read aloud:

"Yesterday authorities were baffled at the disappearance of a crew of explorers that were collecting data on a planet on the farthest reaches of our system. The case would have normally been thought as no surprise as these sort of things often happened, due to pirates and the many other dangers of space, but it seems that overnight the ship had suddenly appeared in port here in the city. No bodies have yet been found inside the ship, but the search for clues continues. The owner of the ship," Everyone suddenly perked up, "which is the Agency of Scientific Development, or ASD, has had no luck in finding even the location of the planet in the ship's log due to technical issues..."

Jim gave up reading and threw his hands in the air.

"Damn", Gene cursed under his breath, "Well Nick, it was a good try, but this one ain't gonna happen"

Nick looked at his feet, "This kills me. I really wanted to go on one more mission before I had to go..."

Gene patted him on the back, "Oh well, you tried. Maybe something else will come up within your last few days", He said with more optimism than he felt

"Well, I'm gonna go back to the bar for a while. You wanna come Nick?", Gene asked, trying to lighten up his friend's mood

"Sure..."

"What about you Jim?"

"No, I'm just gonna hang around here for a while". Nick and Gene said goodbye and Jim did like-wise.

They walked back outside and headed back in the direction of the bar. By now it was starting to get dark and the stars were starting to show. About halfway to the bar, Nick looked up at them and remembered the night before with Aisha and a smile crossed his face. In the alley-way he was walking adjacent to, a shadow moved and a figure sprung out. He felt a sharp sting in the back of his head for a flicker of a second. Darkness overtook him as his face met the ground and the last thing he remembered was Gene turning around in surprise.

He awoke nearly half an hour latter with Gene standing over him. He realized that he still lay on the sidewalk, and his head felt like it were keeping a steady but painful throbbing pulse.

"Don't move", Gene said. His voice cut made the pain flare in Nick's skull, "It was just a normal thug. He saw my caster and took off. He got a nice hit off you."

Nick kept still and tried to make sure he could remember what happened. His mind scanned his memories as if he were never hit, and his eyes went wide as he started to remember NEW things. His life before the pod, his family, his selection to be the honorable guardian for the tomb of...", again his eyes widened

"I-I-I remember!", he stammered with amazement and sat bolt upright.

He started running back to the shop with Gene at his heels. He ran through the front door and shocked Jim and Melfina.

"What's going on?" Jim asked

"Ha! I remember!" He laughed slightly frantic

Gene came in behind him a second later.

"Ok Nick", he said panting, "You know the drill. Out with it."

Nick sat down and gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking. His yelling had drawn Suzuka and Aisha into the living room.

"I was found in that tomb because I was a guardian, as you all know", they nodded, "well I was guarding the last of our emperors. His name was Emperor Tornachax, and he led our people during the golden years of our might and prosperity. He had recently died of a great plague that had been sweeping through our population, which had turned things into anarchy. The vault was made to keep his tomb safe from our own people. I believe I survived because I was sealed in the pod before I caught the infection.", His account slowed down but didn't stop, "I remember I was of the highest rank of soldiers in the emperor's guard, one of the most respected people in the empire, and my name was Rotox Cariotarian. That is why I was chosen, because I was not only to protect the emperor in life but also in death. I remember other things too. I now remember how to fight. The battles I've won for the empire have taught me well, and I think training with you, my friends, would be inappropriate, though I mean no offense, I'm sure you understand..."

Each of his friends sat and looked at him through new eyes. They weren't looking at the kid who they had grown to know for the past month who came in looking for help, but a young, honorable soldier that was now bristling with experience and power. His personality seemed to be mostly the same except that he had a new pride in himself and it shown through his ice blue eyes.

"One more thing" Nick said, "If you don't mind, could you call me by my real name from now on? Rotox?"

Gene gave him a thumbs up "Sure thing Ni… er, I mean Rotox"

"So you know where the planet is?" Jim managed to ask

"To the decimal...", He responded with confidence

"Awright!" Jim and Gene yelled at once. They remembered that the girls hadn't heard anything about the next job so they filled them in.

"This sounds big!", Aisha said

"Especially since it's the tomb of an Emperor!", Jim added, but he switched tones on the fly, "Are you still sure you want to loot this place, Rotox, since it's such an important place to you?"

Everyone else held their breath as they realized that Rotox may very well have refused to take them to the tomb since he WAS the guardian of it after all...

"It is as I have said before. My people are gone and have no need of it, I don't think they would mind.", they let out a sigh of relief," Besides, I could put it to better use," Again they held their breath at the thought of Rotox taking it all for himself, but he read their faces and said, "Relax guys, I haven't changed THAT much. It will be divided up equally." Again, a sigh of relief...

"So", Gene started, "What kind of goods are we looking to find?"

"Riches beyond your wildest dreams! We hoarded the majority of our wealth deep within the temple along with the secrets of technology that even I never knew about", He went on wearing the eyes of remembrance and pride," And there were statues made of the finest dragonite and purest quality and even ships that required no fuel, reserved for the Emperor himself!"

Gene wasn't the only one drooling, Jim and Aisha were also doing their share. Even Melfina and Suzuka's eyes were bulging uncharacteristically.

"Jim! Get the dock manager on the line now! Tell him to have the ship fueled and ready to go by dawn tomorrow!" Gene yelled... way too loud

"I'm already on it!" He said dialing the phone

"Melfina, Suzuka, Aisha and Rotox! You guys come with me! We need to get supplies!" He said as he searched for spare change in his pockets and under the couch cushions.

The five of them ran out the door and down the street as Jim yelled orders into the phone.


	6. Take Off

It was the crack of dawn when the crew set out to the ship. They were all very anxious to get going and even though the trip would take at least three weeks, even if nothing bad happened, they already acted as if they were on the threshold of the temple. Aisha and Jim raced to the dock as soon as it was in sight.

"Were gonna have to leave some things behind to make room for you, ok Rotox?" Gene asked

"Sure no problem"

Gene was acting a little greedy when he started making room for the loot, and only kept the essential things. He was wise, though, to act as if there may be no second run for more treasure once they made their first haul. But then he got an idea.

"Hey Rotox?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that there were ships under the temple, right?"

"Of course", Rotox confirmed

"Do you think that they will still run?" He asked hopefully

"Well, from what I can tell, I've probably been in stasis for about a thousand years" He said rubbing his goatee, which had grown fuller in the last month

"A thousand years?" Gene exclaimed

"Yeah, but I was in stasis, so it makes little difference, as for the ships, they ought to be fine", he said with authority

"So maybe we can use them later"

"Maybe, but I think we should worry about that after we discover their condition", Suzuka said popping up from behind Gene

Soon the ship was fueled up and everyone was aboard. The Dock manager gave permission to launch and Gilliam activated the engines. For a few minutes everyone was pressed into their seats as they made their way out of the atmosphere, but gradually the G units lessened and finally gave out all together. Gilliam slowed the ship to nearly a stop.

"Gene", Gilliam's familiar voice chimed in, "please give me the coordinates of the destination of which you wish to go"

"One sec Gilliam", Gene said while taking the harnesses off. He went into the back rooms of the cockpit and found Rotox in his newly outfitted launch chair.

"Hey Rotox, you alright?" He asked

"Yeah, I just haven't gotten used to zero gravity"

"Don't worry about it. Let me do the flying. All I need are the coordinates"

Rotox listed them off as if he were reading them out of a book, "Tell the computer it's in the north quadrant of the searo-nebular plane at 45 x, 56.8 y and 30 degrees inward"

"I've never heard numbers like that", Gene said

"Cause' you never been there. Just repeat those to Gilliam. I'm sure he's compatible with them", Gene shrugged and went and did what he was told.

"Confirmed", Gilliam said, "Estimated travel time... 3 weeks"

"Yeah yeah, I know, let's just get going!" Gene said annoyed

Just before the rockets kicked in, Gene thought he heard, or rather felt a slight thud that came from the hull of the OS, but he disregarded it as common space junk harmlessly drifting around.

After a while Rotox came up front and looked around the massive cockpit. He saw Aisha in her seat and floated over to talk to her.

"Hey fuzz, what's up?" He said

"Apparently you are", she said pointing at him as he bumped the ceiling. She was glad that the memories hadn't changed him all that much.

Rotox looked out the window, "I think I like looking at the stars more when my feet are on the ground. You said that you wanted to do that again. Right?"

"Yeah" She said yawning

"Am I really THAT boring?"

"No", she laughed, "I was up all night again. I couldn't sleep with the thought of being rich running through my head"

Rotox frowned, "What's gonna happen when you're rich, will you even have time to look at the stars anymore? Will we have any more of those nights?"

"Of course! I think that once we cash in, we'll have MORE time to look at the stars."

Something inside Rotox told him otherwise, he knew what money and power did to people... He knew that even before the memories came back...

"Ok guys, I'm activating the stasis pods just climb in whenever yer ready," Jim called out

"I hate these things", Aisha grumbled

Rotox ruffled her hair, "You ain't got nuthin to complain about, try and go in for as long as I have! And at least you get "yer eight hours" your highness." And he got the warm feeling again as she smiled back. Suddenly he knew that this was one of the few people in his life that he really cared about, he would have died if only to make that smile last a little longer.

He backed away as the pod closed around her and she fell asleep. He stood there a moment longer looking through the pale glass. Somehow seeing her in there made him mad, not enough to make him change but it did none the less. Just seeing her wild and free spirit put dormant made him feel strange. He went to his own pod and closed it and succumbed to the tired feeling that crept into him.


	7. Homeworld

The ship continued through the three week course with no problems and arrived at the planet. Gilliam deactivated the pods and one by one they awoke. They were now on the dark side but according to Gilliam were directly over what appeared to be the temple. It was pitch black except for the cockpit lights.

"Gene"

"Yeah Gilliam?"

"I'm detecting a discrepancy moving towards the planet but I cannot scan it... There may be opposing magnetic fields here that are scrambling my sensors", he said in his normal calm tone

"Probably just a comet, forget it", he said waving his hand

"Daylight in 30 seconds" Gilliam reported, then counted down

As he neared single digits, the light slowly came across the face of the planet. They looked upon it with awe. It resembled Earth. There were icecaps, brilliant blue oceans, and brownish land masses, but they could also see massive jungles and deserts that stretched for thousands of miles, unlike any planet colonized by people, where most trees had been cleared.

"It's beautiful", exclaimed Melfina

Rotox came to the window after just getting up,"Yeah, I like to think so too. It's good to be home."

"Gilliam", Gene ordered, "start landing procedures now."

"Yes Gene"

The ship gave a soft jerk and descended. Blueish clouds rolled over the windows and steamed from the friction heat of falling so quickly.

As the ship neared the ground, it opened the landing gear and gently touched down. Jim ran a test on the air outside and dubbed it breathable. Gene lowered the cycling latter and looked out. They had landed on the edge of a desert and faced a jungle that abruptly started just before them. There was almost what looked to be a tunnel through the jungle. The trees grew about 15 feet apart but overhead the canopy blended together into a green blur. They rode the ladder down one by one, jumped off, and gathered in the living tunnel. They didn't have to go very far when they came to a large wooden barricade that reached the roof of the tunnel. Climbing over wasn't an option, not even for the most agile of them which was Aisha. Some spots LOOKED solid but still could easily have given way.

"I remember this too", Rotox said as he walked up to the structure. He put his arm inside a hole between two massive logs and gave a solid jerk.

Something on the opposite side groaned and rumbled and all of a sudden a fault that was invisible to the naked eye appeared in the middle of the barricade and it opened outward like a massive door. Beyond that was the city. Jim had once seen an extremely old book on the ancient races of Earth. This city had some striking resemblances of what he remembered of the Aztecs and Toltec. The architecture was made of stone with ornate carvings literally everywhere. A canal cut the city into quarters, two of which bordered a deep valley that left the water from the canal to turn into a majestic waterfall. The only difference he could see were things that were obviously electronic that melded into the scenery using amazing camouflage.

Jim was curious as to whether this race had borrowed its look from the Aztecs and asked Rotox

"We lived like this for thousands of years before we ever knew of the race of which you speak, but once we did notice them, we took interest. I'd have to say that if the Spanish never wiped them out, by this point in time they would have been a lot like what my race was. Each of our cultures were more in tune with nature and its cycles than others. The style and mentality of life that both our nations had, once passing a certain point in development becomes very potent, the only thing is, is that my race had the time needed to pass that point and theirs didn't. You see what I'm sayin?"

Jim gave a questionable nod and Rotox laughed, "If you really care, I could explain it more some other time". He knew that Jim was genuinely curious but undoubtedly confused even though he thought the concept fairly simple himself

----

They entered the city square and paused. Something felt strange. Suzuka noticed it first and scanned over the buildings that were only starting to get overgrown.

Aisha couldn't place it, but there seemed to be a static in the air and she also suddenly realized it was completely quiet. No birds. No Animals. Nothing but the sound of the breeze in the ancient canopy above them. The entire complex suddenly seemed more foreboding. Shadows seemed to have crept into places where they hadn't been before and everything seemed to have been covered in a fine layer of dust that she hadn't noticed.

Then there was a noise that disturbed everyone, it was the innocent laughter of a child. It echoed from all directions as if it were coming from a different time. It was suddenly engulfed by the sound of a city; People's footsteps on the flagstones, people talking, vendors shouting, a whole wide multitude of noises from a city of people that wasn't there.

Then suddenly they appeared. Shades that flickered in and out of existence. They weren't threatening at all while they went about the daily lives that they had lived in the past. Rotox sank to his knees as he saw people that he had known, kids that he had talked to while at his post, elders known throughout the community, and as he peered into the shadows, he saw his mother and father crossing the square. These were the people that it was his duty to protect, and he had failed them. He choked back tears and struggled to his feet just as the entire populace stopped and looked at him. The air seemed even more still now than ever before.

The shades began talking in unison in a slow and commanding manner. They spoke in the old language and Rotox listened. The others saw him scowl at times, but why they couldn't begin to tell, they just stood there and listened to the voice of his empire speak.

They stopped abruptly and with the breeze they turned to dust and disappeared

"Thank you", he said under his breath and with that he turned away and continued on

The others shrugged and figured that he had just gotten a lot of information that weighed heavily upon him.

They continued down a main street that went about another half-mile to what they guessed was the temple. It was rectangular in shape with at least a hundred steps going up to the main structure which was absolutely huge. Like the rest of the city, it was all made of stone but Jim saw no pillars and he wondered what supported the whole ceiling, it must have weighed tons.

"Hey Rotox, what's holding up the roof?" Gene finally asked

"Magic", he said, gesturing with his hands. He felt much better after getting away from the stagnant feel of the square. "I'd explain it more but I never really understood it"

"What do you mean you don't understand it?" Melfina asked as she snapped out of looking around

Rotox looked slightly confused, "Ummm, well lemme put it this way. You've all gone to school at least some point in your lives. Right?"

"Yeah but that didn't last long", Gene said

"Well, think of it this way... Not all kids are good at math, very few in fact, but find their niche in other subjects. Well, consider magic to us as math to you. Get it? Only a few of our people had developed the ability of any real casting, I wasn't one of them."

"Oh I see now", Melfina said

They now stood upon the threshold of the temple and peered inside. It was, like some points in front, unsupported by pillars even though you could park about 2 medium size ships inside. Any normal structure would have caved in the day it was made, but this was solid.

They continued inside and saw the vault door in the distance laying upon the floor in two pieces.

Suzuka strode over to it and examined it, "It must be at least five feet thick", she thought out loud

Jim also examined the massive stone door. He saw many hieroglyphics etched into its surface and he ran his hand over them.

Rotox continued into the next chamber. Aisha and Gene followed and found him in front of the pod that they had heard so much about. Its technology did seem out of place in the stone structure. They came closer and saw that it had exploded outward like some sort of cocoon. Then they looked about them and saw about half a dozen skeletons.

"The scientists", Rotox said and continued toward the tunnel that lay directly behind the pod.

"Come on guys", Gene yelled back to the others, "Don't get left behind"

They entered the tunnel and walked along. The walls were ornately decorated with murals showing battles and the lines of Emperors. The tunnel was very dim but the hall was clear of rubble or debris so the going was easy, especially since they were descending the whole way.

They walked for a while longer before coming upon a massive hall, it must have been three times as large as the entrance hall. In it were ships, just as Rotox had said. They were all completely black and varied in shape and size. Some, Gene could tell, were fighters, others were freighters, and some were escort ships.

"There's a miniature fleet in here!" Jim exclaimed, "We have to take at least one of these back!"

He walked over to one of the fighters and looked at it. The fighter was about two hundred feet long, very sleek and well outfitted. Rotox walked up behind him and shouted a command from a different language. The ship obeyed and its cockpit opened.

"Amazing", Jim said as he looked inside

Again Rotox shouted a command, this one sounded slightly different. They waited but nothing happened

"What'd you say?" Aisha asked

"I told it to display arsenal", he said, "Give it a second, it hasn't run in over a thousand years"

They waited a second longer before hearing hundreds of electronic noises. Six large missile decks slowly descended from the underside of the ship, each held about five missiles that were large enough to destroy and entire warship that could have been five times as large as the fighter. Ten smaller missile decks did the same in various other spots. Flaps opened on the nose and wings and large pulse cannons slowly got pushed out wards. On the tail end, a small elevator displayed a number a various mines. And on the top, a huge turret exposed itself.

"Wow!" Aisha said, "That looks like it could take on one of the Ctarl cruisers, and that's no simple task mind you"

"I think we'll take this one", Gene said with a grin

"OK then. There ought to be an aircraft elevator around here. I can pilot it back, but I think we should worry about that later", Rotox said

"Sounds like a plan", Gene said, "But I think we should take a break here for a little bit"

"Sure"

"I'd like a chance to look around at the other ships for a while" Gene said as he walked away

The rest of the group dissipated to go look at the other strange ships. Rotox followed Aisha and watched her go to the transport ship. He strode up to her.

"You havin fun yet?" He asked

"This is amazing!" she said and attempted to repeat the command that Rotox used on the fighter to open the hatch. Nothing happened

"No, this one's different, they don't all use the same commands" he said and whispered a new one into her ear, "try again"

She did and this time it worked.

"Excellent!" She said and ran inside

Rotox walked towards the back of the subterranean hangar. He saw, just as he expected, another door. He took his time walking over to it. He looked at the lock that was made up of a slab of crystal and put his hand upon it. It began to hum as a blue light ran the length of his hand. A loud click resounded throughout the hangar. The others came up to him, having seen enough of the ships for now.

"What was that sound?" Melfina asked

"Why, it was the sound of the bank opening, of course..." Rotox said as he pushed the door open. A brilliant gleam of light shot through the door and made everyone except Rotox flinch.

He proceeded through the door, "Welcome my friends!" he said extending his hand into the blazing light, "Welcome to Eden!"


	8. Unexpected Visitors

The glimmering light around them seemed to subside and they saw that they were in a cavern that was absolutely massive. A forest grew about them and it got its sun from a huge hole in the roof of the cavern. Birds even chirped in the trees about them while a natural spring fed a small creek that ran away and down a small slope. The cavern they were in must have been near a mile in diameter. Everywhere there were piles of dragonite looking as if they were common in every forest. Massive statues made of the substance towered high into the cavern. They were of warriors in heavy battle regalia armed with ceremonial bladed melee weapons and energy based fire arms.

Rotox continued down a path that looked extremely well maintained and the others followed. They were all wide eyed at everything that encompassed them. Looking ahead they saw that they were suddenly in front of a large cairn. Rotox stood before it and the others respectfully stayed their distance knowing that this must be the burial spot of his emperor. They looked upon him with awe, he was in his element, the sun shone in rays about him and he became the avatar of calm. He turned and looked at them one by one, and like the first day he saw her, he stared at Aisha. Only this time she didn't turn away, she smiled and stared back.

Then a sound so foreign to a peaceful place such as this came from nowhere. A gunshot. Rotox saw as Aisha faltered then fell. Jim and Gene rushed to catch her. Suzuka drew her sword and turned and spotted a figure up on the hill behind them where the door to the hangar was.

"Ha! One down and five to go!" Harry McDougal said, reloading the gun on the robotic suit he was in

"Where the Hell'd you come from?" Gene yelled

"You shouldn't be so surprised Gene Asswind", Harry said with a smile, "You cost us a lot of money knocking off our main client, you didn't think we'd let you get away with that did you? Especially that Ctarl who did most of the work", he said gesturing to Aisha

"What are you talking about?" He shot back confused

"I'm not dumb, we got reports from the survivors. Some kind of beast trashed the place to Hell, and it was a full moon that night", He explained, "We put two and two together, and just as you were leaving port we snagged you with a tracer"

Gene remembered back to the night of the job and realized that coincidentally there WAS a full moon. And the tracer! He flashed back to the takeoff day and remembered the slight thud that he had disregarded as space junk.

Rotox stood behind Gene shaking in total disbelief, this couldn't possibly have just happened. He shuddered violently and his eyes closed tightly as the image of Aisha dropping to the ground played over and over in his head. He opened his eyes to see her lying still in Jim's arms. All he could think was, "The one person I've ever cared about…". He felt the creature gnawing at the inside of his mind and he twitched. His gazed switched to Harry and he spoke with an unnerving calm, "What did they say the creature looked like?"

Harry was caught off guard by the tone of the new speaker, it sounded almost relaxed, but regained his mentality when he realized that he had him at gunpoint, "Well now who do we have here? Another weakling following Gene? Well all I remember was that it was big and scary. Good enough for you?"

Rotox sneered as it came out in a sudden flare "I DONT THINK YOU GOT THE GUTS TO TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU JUST STARTED!" Rotox shouted as he let loose the rage. His sight turned blood red and he felt power, and that made him want to kill this thing all that much more.

Gene was nervous, Rotox had never been this mad. He realized that he must have really had feelings for Aisha because this time he was beyond control. Suzuka ran to help Jim move Aisha seeing that Rotox would endanger any and everything in the area. Gene ducked into the foliage that ran along side the path

Rotox knew that this was no normal rage and that he couldn't control it even if he wanted to so he only push it forward. He grew past what he had been before, his muscles bulged and constricted, his fangs became more numerous and sharp. His hide grew stronger and grew taught where bones began to protrude. He took a huge step forward and the ground below him thundered.

Harry fell back. "What in the name of all that was Holy is this thing? What have I done?" He ran through the hangar door and started for the spacecraft's elevator.

The creature peered through the small opening to the hanger. It dwarfed it in size and inhibited it from chasing Harry… for a few seconds. The beast's fist punched clear through the solid stone wall. A second punch cleared away more stone, and then a third, and with the fourth the wall was gone. It entered into the hangar and towered above the ships. Across the room he saw the aircraft lift being raised. It ran towards it with all of its speed and thundered into the wall with the elevator just inches out of its clawed reach. The creature didn't make a sound or move for a second, which made it seem all that more eerie as it peered upwards. It knew that however frightening a noise it could make, it wouldn't be remotely suitably for what it felt

Harry looked down at the creature and met its gaze of hatred. He made another mistake; he taunted it thinking it had no chance of reaching him now.

It looked up and saw with disbelief that the insect was TAUNTING it! It didn't know what it was feeling now, only that the remote part of it's mind could still think worried that it might somehow get too mad and kill itself from the inside out, but the primal hatred didn't care in the least and that if it only had one more thing to accomplish in this life, this would be it.

Harry gave a shriek of terror as he saw its muscles bulge MORE. The fur on it's back changed to white in sporadic bolts before changing back to pitch black. It actually looked as if lightning were streaking across it body as it pounded a claw into the solid stone wall and hoisted itself up. It plunged the other claw into the wall and did the same. It was gaining on the rising elevator but beyond it, the beast saw light and knew that its prey would escape if it didn't do something. This piece of worthless life that killed her! And with those last two words ringing it its mind it launched itself up the rest of the shaft. It smashed through the elevator car just as it reached the top and Harry was flung into a clearing the surrounded the area.

Gene and the others heard monstrous sounds from the hangar and ran towards them. They had to get out of the "Eden cavern". The walls were crumbling from the hole punched into the wall by the creature. Gene only had enough time to line all of his pockets with the precious dragonite, and then rounded up the others and bolted out. Just as they entered the hangar, the cavern behind them collapsed and a cloud of dust rushed out through the doorway. They saw the tail of the creature shoot up the elevator shaft at the last second. They continued up towards the surface, forgetting the ship that they planned to take.

The creature had Harry pinned to the ground. It crushed his legs and made him yell out in pain.

Harry couldn't restrain the cry. He looked up into the crimson eyes of the creature and knew that he probably deserved the fate he was about to receive, but he was filled with a new fear as the creature started to talk, if talking is what you'd call it.

"KNOW THIS AS YOU DIE!" it thundered, "YOU ARE NOTHING! YOU WERE NEVER ANYTHING! BUT YOU KILLED THE ONE THING THAT TO ME WAS EVERYTHING!" For a second it hesitated and thought about consuming Harry but then sensed that this thing had the reek of oil and machinery about it and knew it must be some sort of android. It decided that eviscerating it would be just as satisfying as it curled its clawed hand into a massive fist and started the down stroke.

Harry waited for contact, and he heard a loud explosion but felt no pain, and he opened his eyes to see the creature was gone.

He looked up and saw his brother's ship launching a flurry of missiles into the creature that hadn't disappeared but had been knocked away. He hobbled to the ship carefully and slowly because of his crushed robotic legs, as it quickly dropped to his level and opened the bay doors. He dove in and was carried to safety. The ship was out of view within seconds leaving the creature on it side.

Gene was the first to enter the clearing. He saw the creature and looked up in time to see the McDougal's ship retreat.

The creature was breathing raggedly as it lay on its side waiting for the wounds to start healing.

Gene dared to get closer to the beast. It suddenly but almost lazily rolled over and met his gaze. He was shocked to see its eyes, because they had lost their crimson hue and looked almost... sad?

"Hey man", He said, trying to calm it down, "You'll get another chance at em"

It pounded its clawed fist into the ground which created a small quake, "DAMN STRIAGHT I WILL! I'll hunt them down like dogs and kill them without mercy!" It roared and laid back releasing a monstrous growl from its throat.

Suzuka, Jim, and Melfina burst into the clearing. The beast turned to regard them. It shrank slightly due to the fact that it realized that at least they were safe. Though it was still venting anger when it noticed another figure in the jungle. She cleared the heavy brush and he recognized her. It took no time at all for him to return to his normal size.

"Aisha!" He yelled as he limped across the clearing. He wasn't completely healed yet and had large gashes in his side.

"Happy to see me?" She said laughing

"B-but he shot you?" Rotox stammered

"Pff, he just knocked the wind out of me and this armor is a lot tougher than it looks", she said tapping her officers' cuirass, "So, what set you off this time?"

"Oh nothin", he said trying to mirror her tone

"Yer so full of yourself!" She said laughing again

"Well if you two are done, how bout we get to it?" Gene said impatiently

"Yeah we ought to get the ship"

"Oh no! I forgot about it. I hope the hangar didn't collapse along with the cavern", Jim said as he started running toward the entrance

The others followed behind. The shaft wasn't and option now that the elevator was gone, so they had to take the long way around.

Jim took a long sigh when he saw that the hangar was pretty much untouched

"Well", Gene said, "How are we gonna do this?"

"I could pilot the fighter and meet you guys in the OS", Rotox offered, "If you want, I could act as an escort"

"Sure, we'd be goin home with class.", Gene said rubbing his hands together, "My own escort, Excellent!"

"One more thing though", Rotox said over his shoulder as he walked over to a wall with large symbols on it, "I wanna get some new threads real quick"

He traced some of the symbols with his finger and then gave two solid knocks. A small slot opened that was about 3 feet by 3 feet, and a vertical locker slid out smoothly. The locker gave a click and slowly opened. Jim took a peek inside and saw what looked like a black ooze that just barely moved. Rotox put his arm into the liquid and soon it started to run up his arm and cover his clothes. It hardened into an amazingly intricate suit of pitch black armor. The liquid went and covered his head then hardened into a helmet that looked skull-like. When it was done solidifying he removed the helmet.

"AWESOME!" Jim and Gene said in unison

"This is just the standard issue pilot uniform. My personal set was much better, but it's long gone. This is also symbiotic, like my clothes. That's why it changes like that." He explained, "But right now, I'm WAY past hungry. "

"Can I go with you?" Aisha asked

"Uh, ok. I think there should be enough room", He said scratching his head

She took off, "RACE YA!"

He shrugged and casually walked after her. Aisha was almost there when she tried the open hatch command. Nothing happened.

"Oh too bad, cant win if ya can't get in"

"Oh shut up and open the door..." she stuck out her tongue

"Oh I see, when you win it's great, but otherwise it's no fun, that's what humans call a poor sport"

"Hey!" she snapped playfully, "I can get just as mad as you so watch it SPORT"

Gene finally gave up on watching them, "I'm gettin outta here", he said waving his hand

Jim, Melfina, Suzuka, and Gene went back to the OS and made it back out into space and met up with the hardly visible fighter that Rotox and Aisha were in.

They opened up the com link, "You remember how to fly that thing ok?" Gene asked

"Sure, It's like riding a bike... only with some buttons and throttles and meters and stuff", he said giving a thumbs up sign

"Ok then, let's get rolling", Gene said as he motioned for the com link power switch. Something fell out of his pocket and he looked down. "Hey! The dragonite, I almost forgot about it!"

"How much you salvage?" Jim asked. Rotox could see him on the com screen behind Gene.

"Enough to get at least ONE beer when we get back", he opened his coat smirking and Jims eyes popped open when he saw that the pockets on the inside lining of his coat were also chalked full

"Ooo! Sparkly!" Aisha was hanging on the back of Rotox's chair with shining eyes

"You like that, huh?" Rotox said turning around with a bag in his hand, "Here you can have this"

"Thanks", she took it, opened it and squealed, "A REALLY BIG ONE!"

"Yep, that's my last pay check"

"Are you guys ready?" Gene asked annoyed

"As we'll ever be! See ya in three weeks guys!" They all waved and the screens went off.

Rotox turned and started toward the stasis pods

"Thank you" Aisha said and hugged him and for the second time caught him off guard. He almost fell but caught himself and laughed

"It's alright. Time for sleep though", he was about to keep going but she started to purr."Aisha, we gotta go". He stood there for a few more seconds and finally his stomach rumbled.

"I could really go for some cat right about now", he said laughing

"YOU JERK!" She quickly backhanded him and went to the pod

"What I do?"

"You're such a dork"

"So?", and he yawned just before his pod closed

Aisha had never once in her life had that response to ANY of her insults and stood speechless as she fell asleep.

The two ships continued toward home while the crew slept. Gene sold the dragonite and made a small fortune when they got home and Rotox eventually went back to Kojack's place for a while before starting his own fledgling outlaw business using the fighter he found at the ruins, but he always stopped back in every once in a while to screw with the crew.

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End


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